LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla.—Maybe Kris Medlen’s problem Monday afternoon was the opponent. Maybe it was a curveball that he said was “dog poop.” Maybe the conditions at Champion Field were more favorable to hitters than pitchers.

Considering the pitching line for the Atlanta Braves’ right-hander, it was probably all of the above. The ugly numbers: five innings, 14 hits, nine runs (all earned).

What Medlen didn’t do was lose, of course. The guy who finished 2012 on a record streak of 23 starts without a loss was bailed out by his offense. The Braves pummeled Phillies starter Rodrigo Lopez for eight runs in two innings on the way to a 17-10 victory.

Medlen even chipped in two hits to a 19-hit attack that included four homers, two by Justin Upton. On the mound, though, Medlen did not look anything like the National League’s best starter, which he was for the second half of last season.

“I never had an outing like that in my life,” said Medlen, who managed three scoreless innings but gave up five runs in the second and four in the fifth.

He did not sound all that bothered, though. It is, after all, spring training and he said he would have approached a regular-season start differently. For example, he said he would have thrown fewer curves in a real game but needs to get the pitch right.

As he also pointed out, “whoever has been in that uniform hasn’t been too kind to me on the mound.” In 23 2/3 career innings (13 games) against the Phillies, he owns an unsightly 5.32 ERA.

And he was able to find positives. For example, he was able to get his pitch count up.

“I went from throwing 49 pitches (in his last outing) to throwing 84,” he said. “It was good for me to be out there and fatiguing a little bit. You need to battle through that because you’re going to be fatigued in the (regular season), too.”

Plus, he was told, he didn’t walk anyone. “Yeah, I was going to get to that, too,” he said. “It could have been (a) 3-2 count on everybody and I could have had 84 (pitches) in the first two innings.”

Medlen truly wasn’t offering excuses; rather, he was explaining a lousy outing. “I was crushed,” he said. “It’s never good to have one of those.”